Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-08-17
EDISON'S LATEST.
nv -,,,. rHr SCIENTISTS ABOUT HE
pyRorAanYrrc GIHyRAToR'
ri. scheme for Turning the Asas Of
pomestic Furnace into sise'l'
Lights and Getting Power
Out Of Heat.
rNeU York SUM-

among the hios' toscra Tho
eighty. one papers read before tue
learned delegates to the American as
soc;at;on for the Advancement OF
Science Yesterday was one by Thomas
A Edison. read by Professor George
r Parker upon a novel proposition
namelv the conversion OF heat into
power directly by means OF magnetism
and. by the same prIncipie, Tue coz
version of heat into electricity VI us
discovery Mr.. Edison says; A.. e,,
"Since whenever magnetic heiu
varies in strength in the vicinity OF
conductor, current is generated IN
that conductor, it occurred to me tna1
by placing an iron core in a magnetic
circle and varying the magnetizaniiity
of that core by varying its temperature
Il would be possible to generate cur
rent in a coil of wire surrounding TINS
core" =, p,.
Acting upon this idea Mr.. Edison
placed eight electromagnetic in q circle.
all their positive poles in contact with
one iron disk and their negative poles
in contact with another. Passing
through the disks and joining them he
placed an equal number OF rolls OF tnin
corrugated iron, each roll opposite the
two poles respectively of the electro
magnets. He wound the eight iron
rolls with insulated wire. Nhen this
simple apparatus was placed overa FUR
mace so that hot air passed through the
rolls they became straightway non
magnetic. Then he fitted semiclrcu-
lar plate below the lower disk to shut
of The heat from half the rolls, so that
they became magnetic, and half, beng
hot, were magnetic. BY revolving
this semicircular plate the rolls were
first heated and then cooled, and by
this means electricity was generated IN
the coils of wire surrounding the rolls.
Mir. Edison thinks that this device
can be SO modified as TO furnish cleo
trio lights for O whole house by means
of the heat from an ordinary furnace,
and he will pursue his experiments In
that direction. He calls the machine
the Pyromagnetic Generator.
The proposed pyromagnetic motor
;s tbus described A wheel is swung on
an axis perpendicular to the pl ne OF q
permanent magnet. The wheel Is
made of Tubes of thin iron, which are
heated to redness by current OF hot
air A screen covers part OF the
tubes. cooling them by shutting the
hot air off as the wheel revolves. AS
magnet attracts cold iron more strongly
than hot iron, the cooled tubes OF the
wheel arc drawn to the magnet, and SC
| the wheel is revolved.
This motor has been tried expert
mentally by Mr.. Edison, and he is nov
constructing a machine of three-horst
power The output of electrical energ,
| will be greater, he thinks, than at an
| device now known, and the cost OF ope
ration less.
Meanwhile, the walls of anothe
room were hung with maps OF the Mica
raeua canal, and Commander h. Y
Iavlor read II paper on the subject. II
thought the Panama canal would be
failure, and that France was threatene'
with national calamity in its probabl
fall. Captain Eads's scheme, he said
was lust as visionary. In fact, tn
Nicaraguan project was the only pos:sl
bic one to divide the isthmus. In
scheme needed no subsidies or guaran
tees from Congress or outside help, an
the question of neutrality was nc
worth considering. Engineer Il. L
Pearv followed him with minute de
scription of the canal.
The anthropolosical section voted t
send to Congress memorial. askin
protection for the anthropological re
mains of the land.
While these discussions were goin
on in FiftIeth street, those VINO WEI
wise in botany and bugs were loozin
ut the seaside fora as found at Sand
Hook with the Staten Island Scienc
association and the Iorrey Botanic'
| Club.
Che members OF the association hay
accepted an invitation of Mr.. Erastr
Wi1nan to visit the Fall Of Babylon
ON Staten Island, on Wednesday ev'
ming.
The meeting of tue Nominating Con
mittee and Council of the Association
at the Buckingham Hotel, last nigl
nominated officers for the ensuir
year: =. "a
Major ]. W. Powell, United Stat
Geologist at Washington, was name
for President, and for general seer
tary Professor j. G. Arthur, Lafa
cite, Inn. -,
The next annual meeting will
held at Cleveland.